Ronaldo's Shirt Missing As Rival Messi Poses With Scores of Players' Jerseys
- While opposing football players are known to swap shirts, Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo are yet to exchange similar pleasantries
- The pair have faced each other in 35 matches, with the Argentine enjoying more wins
- Posing alongside his son, Messi flaunted his collection of swapped jerseys but with a Ronaldo one visibly missing
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Six-time Ballon d’Or winner Lionel Messi has posed with a number of players' shirts in an image that has recently surfaced online, but that of his rival Cristiano Ronaldo was visibly missing, Goal.com reports.
Messi, alongside his son Thiago, posed with shirts he had swapped with other players during the course of his career with Spanish club Barcelona.
Source: UGC
Among the number of shirts flaunted by the Argentine legend include that of his friend Luis Suarez and that of former midfield partner at Barcelona and Ivorian legend Yaya Toure.
Shirts of respected footballers including Gerard Pique, Lanzini, Sergio Aguero, Diego Milito, Angel di Maria and a host of others were well hung behind the superstar in the photo.
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However, that of his fiercest rival Cristiano Ronaldo was conspicuously missing as fans make a frantic effort searching for Ronaldo’s short in futility.
Messi and Ronaldo played against each other 35 times in all competitions for club and country.
While the former Barcelona captain holds the edge with 16 wins, Ronaldo has won 10 times. Messi has 22 goals and 12 assists to Ronaldo's 19 goals and one assist.
Messi told Argentine TV channel TyC Sports via SPORTbible:
"I don't ask for shirts, I usually swap them, but I asked Zidane once.
"If there is an Argentine I swap it with him, but, unless someone asks me, I'm not asking anyone."
Messi returns to Spain
However, Messi is back in Barcelona for a short break after being left out of the PSG squad that defeated Brest 4-2 in their Ligue 1 clash on Friday night.
The 34-year-old joined the Parisians for free this transfer window on a two-year deal and has since then been waiting to make his debut for them.
Although some quarters believe be eased into the team gradually after failing to partake in their preseason preparations owing to an elongated summer holiday.
The six-time Ballon d'Or winner has now decided to return to his exotic mansion in Castelldefels just two weeks after moving to France for a fresh start in his career.
Messi set to make PSG debut
In related news, Briefly News reported that ahead of their season opener against Strasbourg, PSG manager Mauricio Pochettino has disclosed that new signing Messi will be allowed to be fully fit before making his debut.
Football fans across the French capital are already anticipating Messi’s debut as the Parisians host Strasbourg in their 2021-22 season opener.
Pochettino however stated that Messi would be presented to the fans at halftime of the encounter, but will not be in action.
Source: Briefly News
Kelly Lippke (Senior Editor) Kelly Lippke is a copy editor/proofreader who started her career at the Northern-Natal Courier with a BA in Communication Science/Psychology (Unisa, 2007). Kelly has worked for several Caxton publications, including the Highway Mail and Northglen News. Kelly’s unique editing perspective stems from an additional major in Linguistics. Kelly joined Briefly News in 2018 and she has 14 years of experience. Kelly has also passed a set of trainings by Google News Initiative. You can reach her at kelly.lippke@briefly.co.za.
Tshepiso Mametela Tshepiso Mametela is a seasoned journalist with eight years of experience writing for online and print publications. He is an evening/weekend editor at Briefly News. He was a general news reporter for The Herald, a senior sports contributor at Opera News SA, and a reporter for Caxton Local Media’s Bedfordview and Edenvale News and Joburg East Express community titles. He has attended media workshops, including the crime and court reporting one by the Wits Justice Project and Wits Centre for Journalism in 2024. He was a member of the Forum of Community Journalists (FCJ) from 2018 to 2020.
